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The court currently has a 6-3 conservative supermajority, but both Barrett and Roberts have at times broken ranks and voted with the court's liberal wing in rulings that have infuriated the MAGA base.

The high court handed the U.S. president a significant setback when it ruled Wednesday that the Trump administration must abide by a lower court order to unfreeze $2 billion in foreign aid.

The aid was blocked after Trump signed an executive action his first day in office ordering the funding freeze while his administration scoured U.S. spending for what Trump and his allies characterize as "waste, fraud and abuse."

A lower court judge subsequently ordered the administration to unblock the aid in response to a lawsuit filed by nonprofit organizations in connection to the Trump administration's freezing of foreign assistance through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the State Department.

In a 5-4 ruling on Wednesday, Barrett and Roberts joined Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson and left in place the ruling by U.S. District Judge Amir Ali.

Mike Cernovich, a longtime conservative activist and Trump supporter, amplified a video of Barrett and Trump interacting during his address to a joint session of Congress.

"She is evil, chosen solely because she checked identity politics boxes," Cernovich wrote. "Another DEI hire. It always ends badly."

Mike Davis, a former law clerk for Gorsuch and the former chief nominations counsel for Republican Senator Chuck Grassley, didn't name Barrett directly but echoed Cernovich's criticisms of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, which Trump has dismantled across the federal government.

He wrote on X: "President Trump will pick even more bold and fearless judges in his second term. Extreme vetting. No DEI. No missteps."

Donald Trump just imposed a 25 percent tariff on virtually all goods produced by America’s two largest trading partners — Canada and Mexico. He simultaneously established a 20 percent across-the-board tariff on Chinese goods.

As a result, America’s average tariff level is now higher than at any time since the 1940s.

Meanwhile, China and Canada immediately retaliated against Trump’s duties, with the former imposing a 15 percent tariff on American agricultural products and the latter putting a 25 percent tariff on $30 billion of US goods. Mexico has vowed to mount retaliatory tariffs of its own.

This trade war could have far-reaching consequences. Trump’s tariffs have already triggered a stock market sell-off and cooling of manufacturing activity. And economists have estimated that the trade policy will cost the typical US household more than $1,200 a year, as the prices of myriad goods rise.

All this raises the question: Why has the US president chosen to upend trade relations on the North American continent? The stakes of this question are high, since it could determine how long Trump’s massive tariffs remain in effect. Unfortunately, the president himself does not seem to know the answer.

In recent weeks, Trump has provided five different — and contradictory — justifications for his tariffs on Mexico and Canada...

...more in the article.

As the title states, Trump's address to Congress - in pictures.

Democratic lawmakers are discussing a litany of options to protest at President Trump's speech to Congress on Tuesday, including through outright disruption, a half dozen House Democrats told Axios.

Why it matters: Some of these tactics go beyond their leaders' recommendation that members bring guests hurt by Trump and DOGE. This sets up a potential clash between party traditionalists and its more combative anti-Trump wing.

• "The part that we all agree on is that this is not business as usual and we would like to find a way — productively — to express our outrage," one House Democrat told Axios.

• There is widespread disagreement among Democrats, both inside and outside of Congress, over what would be the most appropriate and effective form of demonstration.

A wide array of props — including noisemakers — has also been floated:

• Signs with anti-Trump or anti-DOGE messages — just as Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) held up a sign during Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speech last year that said "war criminal."
• Eggs or empty egg cartons to highlight how inflation is driving up the price of eggs.
• Pocket constitutions to make the case that Trump has been violating the Constitution by shutting down congressionally authorized agencies.
• Hand clappers, red cards and various other props have also been discussed, multiple sources said.

What they're saying: House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) wrote in a letter to House Democrats that he and other leaders plan to attend the speech to "make clear to the nation that there is a strong opposition party ready, willing and able to serve as a check and balance."

• Jeffries also said leadership understands if some members skip the speech — as several have said they plan to do — but urged a "strong, determined and dignified Democratic presence in the chamber."

• House Democratic caucus chair Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.) told Axios leadership is telling members to "keep the focus on the health and safety and the economic wellbeing of our constituents."

Nigel Farage has been accused of acting as “Donald Trump’s spokesman in Britain” for refusing to criticize his ally after the US president bullied and belittled Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office last Friday.

Condemning the Reform leader, Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said: “Nigel Farage is once again showing his true colours as Trump's own spokesman here in Britain.

"Zelensky showed courage and integrity in that room - in stark contrast to Farage’s cowardly approach of licking Trump’s boots.

And the Conservatives said Mr Zelensky is a hero who has “stood up to Putin’s aggression and led his country’s defence against their barbaric and illegal invasion”.

“It is troubling to not hear the leader of Reform say that,” shadow foreign secretary Priti Patel said. She added: “For Nigel Farage to sit there pointing the finger at Zelenskyy is both morally wrong and diplomatically counterproductive.

Labour MP Blair McDougall, a member of the foreign affairs committee, told The Independent he was “utterly unsurprised” by Mr. Farage joining the attack on Mr. Zelensky.

He added: “Most of us look at Putin and feel disgust. Farage has always seen someone to admire. A leader who can’t pick a side between a murderous dictatorship and a democracy doesn’t deserve to be anywhere near decisions about Britain’s security.”

President Donald Trump is expected to sign an executive order on Friday designating English as the official language of the United States, according to the White House.

The order will allow government agencies and organizations that receive federal funding to choose whether to continue to offer documents and services in language other than English, according to a fact sheet about the impending order.

Designating English as the national language “promotes unity, establishes efficiency in government operations, and creates a pathway for civic engagement,” according to the White House.

Within hours of Trump’s inauguration last month, the new administration took down the Spanish language version of the official White House website.

Hispanic advocacy groups and others expressed confusion and frustration at the change. The White House said at the time it was committed to bringing the Spanish language version of the website back online. As of Friday, it was still not restored.

Organic farmers and environmental groups sued the Agriculture Department on Monday over its scrubbing of references to climate change from its website.

The department had ordered staff to take down pages focused on climate change on Jan. 30, according to the suit, which was filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. Within hours, it said, information started disappearing.

At the same time, the department also froze funding that had been promised to businesses and nonprofits through conservation and climate programs. The purge then “removed critical information about these programs from the public record, denying farmers access to resources they need to advocate for funds they are owed,” it said.

Peter Lehner, a lawyer for Earthjustice, said the pages being purged were crucial for farmers facing risks linked to climate change, including heat waves, droughts, floods, extreme weather and wildfires. The websites had contained information about how to mitigate dangers and adopt new agricultural techniques and strategies. Long-term weather data and trends are valuable in the agriculture industry for planning, research and business strategy.

“You can purge a website of the words climate change, but that doesn’t mean climate change goes away,” Mr. Lehner said.

The plaintiffs allege the actions violated three federal laws and were “arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, or otherwise not in accordance with law.” They asked the court to compel the agency to restore the pages and to block it from deleting any others.

Wes Gillingham, president of the board of Northeast Organic Farming Association of New York, said that farmers were just heading into planning for the summer growing season. He said taking information down because of a “political agenda about climate change” was senseless.

In a televised roundtable later Sunday evening, Merz also criticized US “intervention” in the German election campaign in recent days. “The interventions from Washington were no less dramatic and drastic and ultimately outrageous than the interventions we have seen from Moscow,” he said. “We are under such massive pressure from two sides that my top priority is to create unity in Europe.”
He continued, “My absolute priority will be to strengthen Europe as quickly as possible so that, step by step, we can really achieve independence from the USA.”
“I would never have believed that I would have to say something like that on television. But at the very least, after Donald Trump’s statements last week, it is clear that the Americans - at least this part of the Americans in this administration - are largely indifferent to the fate of Europe,” he said.

An example for me - the story of Luz Long and Jesse Owens' friendship forged during the 1936 Berlin Games attended by Hitler.

Jesse Owens did not fit the Nazi ideology of the superiority of the Aryan “master race” because of his color. Hitler refused to personally congratulate Jesse after his wins, and neither did US President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Jesse had fouled twice while attempting to qualify for the long jump event. He had only one attempt left. Luz shared a technique with Jesse that helped him to qualify on his last jump. In the finals of the long jump competition Jesse jumped 8.06 meters to win; Luz finished second with a jump of 7.87 meters. Luz was the first to congratulate him. After the award ceremony (see photo at the top of this story), Jesse and Luz walked arm in arm through the Berlin Olympic Stadium.

Jesse and Luz became friends at the Olympics and corresponded for years after that. Jesse would say of his Olympic friendship with Luz, “It took a lot of courage for him to befriend me in front of Hitler… You can melt down all the medals and cups I have and they wouldn’t be a plating for the twenty-four karat friendship that I felt for Luz Long at that moment.”

Here's a link if you're interested.

Care to share your own?

Blunt Rochester: Do you believe that any school benefiting from taxpayer dollars should be required to follow federal civil rights laws?

McMahon: Schools should be required to follow the laws.

Blunt Rochester: Anybody getting taxpayer dollars. That’s good. So private schools shouldn’t be able to turn away a student with a disability? Or a student based on their religion, or their ethnicity or race?

McMahon: Well, private schools aren’t taking federal dollars. So they have the ability to say that if they do not believe—

Blunt Rochester: They do receive them. They should not.

McMahon: Well, if they believe that they cannot best serve that student, and they are not taking federal dollars, then they have the right not to accept that student.

Blunt Rochester: But I’m speaking specifically, when we talk about—there’s a lot of conversation about vouchers. If private schools take federal dollars, can they turn away a child based on a disability or religion or race?

McMahon: Well I think that there are also some public schools who are saying that they don’t have the—

Blunt Rochester: It’s really just a yes or no.

McMahon: No it’s not. It really isn’t.

Unfortunately, Blunt Rochester, rather than pressing McMahon, asked the nominee to follow up with her privately, noting her limited time for questioning. But this was one of the most pointed moments of the day, and it got to a very urgent question in education: How can a government claim to represent all its citizens if the private schools it sends money to turn out to be discriminatory, or to teach damaging or anti-scientific curricula? How can it fund schools freed from federal oversight and still protect the rights of vulnerable children who won’t be naturally welcomed into those alternate institutions? Whether it is because the senators rushed through this line of questioning or because McMahon stonewalled successfully, we never got an answer.

Vice President Vance on Friday chided European leaders for their criticism of Elon Musk wading into their elections, comparing Musk’s actions to Swedish activist Greta Thunberg urging American leaders to take action on climate change.

“I believe that dismissing people, dismissing their concerns, or worse yet, shutting down media, shutting down elections or shutting people out of the political process protects nothing. In fact, it is the most surefire way to destroy democracy,” Vance said.

“And speaking up and expressing opinions isn’t election interference, even when people express views outside your own country, and even when those people are very influential,” he continued. “And trust me, I say this with all humor: If American democracy can survive 10 years of Greta Thunberg’s scolding, you guys can survive a few months of Elon Musk.”

Before becoming president, Trump sued CBS over 60 Minutes' interview with then-Vice President Kamala Harris shortly before the election. Now, Trump's newly elevated Federal Communications Commission chairman, Brendan Carr, is using the levers of government to put pressure on the network.

"Now, more than ever, only a fearless press stands between an aggressive [White House] and the public," former CBS News correspondent Marvin Kalb posted on a Facebook page for CBS alumni. "If news organizations such as CBS bend a knee before a president, then we have all taken a big step towards autocracy."